All Worked Up
by QueenRose44
Summary: As Natasha and Bruce get to know each other better they realize they both have many things in common.
1. Chapter 1

**There aren't many Bruce/Natasha stories and since they are one of my favorite pairings I decided to go ahead and write a story about them.**

Natasha had been annoyed that she had been pulled out of the interrogation but the urgency of her first assignment proved to be more important. She was sent to Calcutta to recruit Dr. Bruce Banner. Ever since his accident Bruce had attempted to stay as hidden as possible. He decided the best way to do that was to settle down in a third world country and help others out. The other guy had not made an appearance for about a year and Bruce hoped to keep it that way. He hated knowing that he could lose control and the other guy would take over. Once the other guy appeared he had no control over his actions and anything could happen.

A poor young girl was hired to put on a charade to lead Dr. Banner to the outskirts of the town where Natasha could introduce herself and hopefully get him on board.

She watched the young girl she hired run into the house as Bruce quickly followed behind. The girl disappeared and she heard Bruce muttering something about being paid beforehand. Natasha decided it was time to reveal herself as she came up behind him trying careful not to startle him in any way.

"You know, for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle," she began as she examined him for any signs of stress.

"Avoiding stress isn't the secret." Bruce responded calmly as he took in her dark red hair and features. So they decided to send him someone pretty this time, he wondered what they wanted.

"Then, what is it? Yoga?" she asked in attempt to make small talk and relax a little although Bruce looked calm.

"You brought me to the edge of the city, smart. I uh... assume the whole place is surrounded?" He would have been truly surprised if she had actually come alone.

"Just you and me." She lied knowing very well that there were about 50 SHIELD agents outside. It would have been foolish to come alone to see a man who turned into a green monster when he got angry. Natasha hoped that the other guy wouldn't make an appearance tonight.

"And your actress buddy is she a spy too? Do they start that young?" Natasha was glad that Bruce was playing along with the small talk so she could think of a way to broach the subject of asking for his help.

"I did." Natasha continued to wonder when she should bring up the real reason she was here.

"Who are you?" Bruce finally asked.

"I'm Natasha Romanoff."

"Are you here to kill me, Miss Romanoff? Because that's not going to work out for everyone." Bruce looked slightly amused at the idea for some reason. If Natasha attempted to kill him it would turn particularly ugly for her and the backup she probably had waiting outside.

"No. No. Of course not. I'm here on behalf of SHIELD." Natasha quickly responded in an attempt to reassure him she wasn't here to kill him.

"SHIELD. How did they find me? "Bruce had hoped he had shaken SHIELD off his track for at least a little while but he guessed they decided to just leave him alone until they needed him.

"We never lost you, doctor. We've kept our distance, even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent. " Natasha confirmed his suspicion that he had never managed to evade SHIELD after all.

"Why?" Bruce asked although he had an idea why they wouldn't want to let him off the hook entirely. He was glad however that SHIELD had left him alone helped keep others off his trail.

"Nick Fury seems to trust you. But now I need you to come in." She was finally able to bring up the topic.

"What if I say no?" Bruce doubted that even if he resisted he would truly be given a choice.

"I'll persuade you." Natasha hoped he wouldn't read too much into those words even though she had to admit she wouldn't mind. If it came down to that, Natasha would do what she had to do.

Now Bruce realized why SHIELD had sent someone pretty to "persuade" him yet he didn't intend to take advantage of her. "And what if the... other guy says no?" The other guy was the main reason he didn't want to help out, he didn't think that anything he had to offer could counter the fact that he could destroy everything in just a second if he lost control.

"You've been more than a year without an incident. I don't think you want to break that streak. "

"I don't get always what I want." He had always wanted to help others and contribute to science instead he suffered an accident that turned him into a green angry out of control monster.

"Doctor, we're facing a potential global catastrophe." Natasha needed to convince him to join, without him it would be difficult to solve the crisis. If she failed Fury would live up to his name and she would have a whole other issue on her hands, failure was not an option.

"Well, those I actively try to avoid." The last thing he needed was to be in a stressful environment.

"This is the Tesseract and it has the potential energy to wipe out the planet." Natasha showed him the picture as an attempt to get him interested in their mission. Natasha couldn't help but admit she liked Bruce's humor and if you agreed to join in she would have someone interesting to talk to.

Bruce put his glasses on as he examined the Tessseract,"What does Fury want me to do? Swallow it? He still wasn't convinced that his participation could be of much use, yet he knew that if SHIELD really thought they needed him what he wanted wouldn't matter.

"Well, he wants you to find it. It's been taken. It omits a gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace. There's no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that's where I'd be." Natasha watched Bruce run his hand over his wavy dark brown hair as he sighed.

To say that no one knows gamma radiation like him would be an understatement. His entire life had been affected by gamma radiation. "So Fury isn't after the monster and doesn't need me in a cage?" Bruce asked.

"No one's going to put you in a..." Natasha was cut short by Bruce as his fists slammed the table all of the sudden without warning.

"STOP LYING TO ME" he screamed in sudden rage.

The air was suddenly very tense and Natasha's gun was pointed at Bruce in split second and her heart started racing and her breathing quickened. She was shocked, she feared her that he had suddenly lost control and stared at him with wide eyes as if he was about to transform at any second.

"I'm sorry, that was mean." He honestly hadn't expected her to react so badly. "I just wanted to see what you'd do." Bruce put his hands up, "Why don't we do this the easy way, where you don't use that, and the other guy doesn't make a mess? Okay? "Bruce felt bad as he realized how much he frightened Natasha as her blue-green eyes appeared to be almost brimming with tears. Natasha... "He said slowly as he tried to calm her down. He would most definitely not try that again, he wanted to reach out to her and help her relax but with a gun pointed at him he didn't see that as possible.

Natasha finally lowered her gun. She let out a breath and wearily spoke into her earpiece telling the agents outside to stand down.

"Just you and me?" Bruce said looking slightly amused. Natasha on the other hand who had yet to recover her composure did not find it to be as amusing.

"Would you like to sit down?" he asked looking slightly concerned. He really hadn't intend to scare that much he just wanted to see how she would react and she hadn't reacted to well to his little experiment.

"No, no, I'll be fine but please don't do that again." Natasha said annoyed she didn't like being startled and she was angry at herself for being almost at the verge of tears. She really needed to get a hold of herself and she swore she would find some way to get back at him for this.

**Please Review! This chapter is very similar to the movie because I decided to leave their first meeting as is. The next chapters will be very different from the movie. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all so much for the story alerts/ favorites/ reviews. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. H I'm proud of my self for updating the very next day and since this is my last week of school I should be able to update fairly frequently throughout the summer. The last chapter was very similar to the movie because I didn't want to change their first meeting too much. The rest of the story won't really match up with the movie.**

Bruce walked into their flying "submarine" wondering to himself for the hundredth time what he was doing here. He couldn't believe that he had gone against every instinct in his body and agreed to do this. He was a ticking time bomb just ready to explode and he hoped that he would help and not hinder this mission. He shook his head; now that he was here he might as well make the most of it. He decided it was time for him to head to the lab and get to work.

When he got there he met Steve and then requested that they immediatley have him start working. Fury sent Natasha to take him to the lab. "Follow me Doctor, I'm sure you'll like the lab it has all the toys." Natasha led him down to the lab and left to go take care of some business.

Bruce thanked Natasha and as he entered the lab he let of out a breath he didn't know he was even holding. He hadn't seen a fully functioning lab in almost two years and now he felt like a kid in a candy store. As he began examining and figuring out what he wanted to do first Tony came prancing in.

"Hey there buddy whatcha up to?" asked Tony, "You know it's real nice to have someone who actually understands what the hell I'm talking about when I refer to some of these things."

"Thanks, it's just nice to be back in a fully equipped lab. I almost feel at home." He put on his glasses and started to occupy himself with a piece of equipment.

"Well that's just great, anyway when was the last time you morphed into a rage monster again?"

"Not over a year and I would like to keep it that way" he answered looking a little suspicious. He had known Tony for about 15 minutes before noticing how interested Tony was in the other guy.

"I was just asking sheesh you really need to calm down."

Bruce started working on some tests while Tony seemed to be playing around with one of the computers. Bruce's mind started wandering back to Natasha while he worked. Her perfect skin, gorgeous hair, beautiful blue green eyes and her….

"Ouch "yelped Bruce as he felt something sharp jab him in the ribs. Sure enough Tony was standing behind him with a sharp object and a smug expression.

"So I guess it's going to take a lot more than this to make you get angry" laughed Tony.

"Tony, stop being mean to Bruce" said Natasha as she walked into the lab with Steve.

"Are you crazy? Why would you try to purposely anger him? Do you want destroy everything and risk everyone's life?" yelled Steve angrily as he walked into the room.

Tony glared at Steve as he replied "Calm down and get that stick out of your –"before Natasha interrupted him.

"This really isn't the time to argue, I came in here to discuss something important. Fury wanted us to decide whether or not we should get Loki's brother Thor involved."

"I guess it could be useful to have him on our side" answered Steve " he certainly would know more about Loki then we do which could provide us with-"

"I vote hell no" interrupted Tony.

"Well think about it having Thor on our side would allow us to recognize any weaknesses Loki has." Steve was using his experience as solider to think of reasons Thor would make a good ally.

"Are you implying I didn't think about it?" snapped Tony back angrily at Steve.

Sensing the tension Natasha decided to step in, "Calm down boys!" she yelled. "We need to discuss this in a calm and rational manner."

"If we bring Thor on our side he could turn against us, after all Loki is his brother" responded Bruce.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Tony "he would betray us in a second."

Steve shook his head, "Family loyalty only goes so far when your brother attempts to kill you. I think that Thor is someone we can trust."

"I agree", interjected Natasha "Thor can be a useful ally and I doubt he would turn against us especially with what his brother had tried to do to him."

The room was silent for a moment before Tony spoke up, "you just want Thor to join our little team here because you have a secret crush on him" he accused.

"No, I just think he would provide us with an edge." Natasha could not help but show her annoyance on this subject and Tony took bait.

"And the fact that he's attractive made no impact on your decision?" Tony refused to let this go and wanted to continue making her as uncomfortable as possible. He was going to use this to make her change her mind about bringing Thor on this mission.

"That's assuming Thor agrees to join us" Bruce stated in an attempt to change the subject. Everyone decided it was best to leave the subject alone for now and talk to Fury about it later.

After the discussion everyone left the lab and Bruce was finally able to actually get some work done. Tony sure was something and he certainly made things interesting but Natasha was something else he thought. He didn't really know what he thought of Natasha yet but he sensed that she was someone he might be able to trust. He wasn't too sure about the rest yet and he was certainly going be careful when he was around Tony. Perhaps he trusted Natasha the most because he knew her longer than the others but he still couldn't wrap his head around it.

* * *

Natasha sat down and watched everyone do their work in their control room while Nick Fury paced back and forth. She sighed and closed her eyes before jumping as she felt someone breathing down her neck. She opened her eyes and Tony was standing right next to her.

"What do you want," she snapped. Couldn't she get some peace and quiet around here?

"I didn't forget about your crush on Thor and if he becomes part of our team I'm going to let him know."

"I know what you're doing; you're trying to black mail me into changing my vote. Well it's not going to work." Natasha got up and started walking quickly as Tony followed her.

"So you admit you do have a crush on him." Tony yelled behind her.

"Tony shut up!" she snapped angrily and she ran into the first room she saw.

Bruce looked up startled as he saw Natasha run into his lab and he saw her lock the door.

"Sorry to startle you Doctor, I was trying to get away from Tony we won't let that stupid Thor thing go."

"Its fine, I was actually starting to get pretty lonely in here." Bruce continued to do his work as Natasha watched in silence.

"So what do you think of the rest of the guys?" Natasha asked all of the sudden.

"Well I think Steve's alright he's probably the most mature, Fury is the same as always and Tony is just Tony."

"There's also Clint but he's been put under some sort of spell by Loki so now he's dangerous to us." Natasha said this as she looked at the floor, Clint had been a longtime friend and she didn't want to be responsible for his death if it came down to that.

Bruce noticed that noticed that Natasha looked sad as she said this. "Did you know him well?" he asked.

"We trained together. I'd just hate to see him dead or be forced to kill him because if it comes down to that I have no choice."

"Maybe we can find a way to get him out of the spell."

"Maybe, well I don't want to bother you any longer since you look really busy. Good night" Natasha quickly left without waiting for his response.

"Good night" replied Bruce to no one in particular.

Natasha quickly raced to her room, she hated giving away too much about herself and letting people know things about her. She didn't like feeling close to other people and she preferred keeping her distance. If there's one thing she learned with her years as a spy it's that the more distance she put between people the easier it was when she was forced to say good bye. She had broken that rule when she became friends with Clint and she wasn't planning on doing it a second time.

**Please Review! Thanks for the alerts/favorites I really appreciate it!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm still developing Natasha and Bruce's feelings toward each other so there isn't too much romance right now. **

The next day Natasha, Steve and Tony captured Loki from Germany and had him locked up. Bruce had stayed behind, but found out that there was a new member. He was surprised to see Thor join them. While Bruce was in his lab working he saw Loki being escorted by a troop of armed soldiers. Loki had his eyes on Bruce as he walked and he seemed to be laughing. Bruce looked a way as a chill ran up his spine, something about Loki being here just isn't right he thought to himself.

Bruce learned that Thor had agreed to their terms and brought Loki to their aircraft where he was imprisoned. Everyone gathered around the live camera as they watched Fury explain Loki's cage and warn him about escaping. Loki smiled up at the camera as if he knew Bruce would be watching him, which made him feel uneasy. Natasha noticed his uneasiness and gave his hand a small squeeze before getting up and leaving.

Everyone left Bruce and Tony to work on locating the Tesseract which caused them to discuss a variety of topics that didn't all relate to their work.

"So what's going on with you and Natasha" asked Tony all of the sudden.

Bruce almost dropped something, "What?" he asked in surprise taken back by the question.

"You heard me; I saw the way she held your hand when you got all stressed out."

Bruce looked down and began fiddling with his dark purple shirt's cuffs as he replied "It was nothing."

"You sure? I mean I when I first met her I thought she liked me. Then I was so sure she liked Thor but I guess she has a little crush on you."

"WILL YOU DROP IT?" snapped Bruce angrily as his face turned red. He looked embarrassed at his outburst and remained silent for the remainder of the time.

"You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?" asked Tony. He took out a bag of blueberries and started eating in the lab.

Bruce couldn't have been happier when Steve wandered into the lab.

"So what are you fellows up to?" Steve asked unsure of what to do in a lab.

"I'm hacking into Fury's locked files" Tony replied casually. "In a few hours I'll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D. has been trying to hide. Blueberry?"

Steve turned down his offer, "Why would Fury keep things from us?"

Tony laughed "There's a lot of things he doesn't tell us old man."

Tony and Steve's conversation were merely background noise as Bruce thought about Natasha's small gesture of kindness. He then remembered what Tony told him, Natasha must be like this with all guys he thought. I'm nothing special she's treating me just like any other guy she would meet. He decided not to read too much into Natasha's actions. I need to concentrate on my work he told himself in an attempt to get Natasha out of his mind. As he came back to reality he heard Tony yell "You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle" while Steve stomped out of the room in anger.

* * *

Natasha was taking a lunch break when she ran into an enraged Steve.

"What's wrong Steve? Wait don't tell me. Tony."

"I swear people used to respect their elders back then.

"Don't let him get to you; Tony has an obnoxious sense of humor."

"You can say that again. You know I feel like you're the only person who actually makes me feel welcome."

"Thanks Steve, and don't listen to Tony he's just a butthead."

"Thanks Natasha, well I have something I need to do."

* * *

Bruce watched Natasha and Steve talk and he secretly wished he was in Steve's place. He suddenly felt annoyed that Steve was talking to Natasha. He needed to get a hold of himself before him turning into a green-eyed monster or worse. Why should it matter to him if Natasha was interested in Steve or any guy for that matter?

"What has captured your attention?"

Bruce jumped and he noticed that Thor was looking over his shoulders.

"Nothing really, it's nice to finally meet you."

"It is an honor to meet you; I have heard many things about you from all the others."

"That's real nice"

"You seemed to have something else on your mind."

"Just the tesseract.

"I see, well I will leave you to do your work."

"Thank you" he replied curtly.

He just wished everyone would leave him alone, he swore if anyone else interrupted him he might turn into the other guy. No one disturbed him for over 2 hours and by then he had decided there was nothing more he could do today. Bruce left the lab and went to his room. When he closed his eyes all he could see was Natasha's face framed by her dark red curls. As he drifted off to sleep his dreams were polluted by Loki's face and that spine chilling smile he gave him. He suddenly woke up in the middle night from a nightmare and was unable to sleep. He tossed and turned for half an hour before deciding to get up and talk a walk down the hall. As he was walking down the hall he caught sight of some dark red hair and saw that Natasha was up wearing a black robe pacing the corridor. Just as he was about to leave quietly Natasha looked up and saw him. "Looks like I'm not the only one who couldn't sleep."

"I don't feel comfortable with Loki on this aircraft, I feel like he's up to something." he responded.

"We all saw that creepy look he gave the camera and I really don't blame you. It feels like he knows something that we don't. Steve was also up but he just went back to bed."

"So are you and Steve friends?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"Yeah, he's a nice guy. Why? Do you not like him?"

"No it's nothing like that" he said quickly.

"I see," Natasha said as she yawned.

No one said anything for a couple minutes and he decided to break the silence. "I guess I'm going to go back to bed. You should probably do the same you don't want to be tired."

"How sweet of you to think of me. I'm usually up at this hour I can never sleep for too long."

Bruce went back to his room and was able to fall asleep after his talk with Natasha which made him feel a little less worried about Loki.

**Please review! Thanks for reading and feel free to offer any suggestions.**


	4. Chapter 4

**This is the fourth chapter I hope you enjoy it.**

No one seemed to agree on anything while they discussed how to approach Loki and the news that SHIELD wanted to develop weapons with the tesseract to fight hostile aliens. The fact that SHIELD had hidden this from them made them wonder what else was being kept from them.

"How are we supposed to trust Fury after they kept this from us?" asked Steve who looked very concerned. "Who knows what else they haven't told us?"

Tony got from his chair and repeated, "Yeah, there's a lot of a thing Fury doesn't tell you."

Bruce took off his glasses and shook his head in distress. "Yes, but this kind of big don't you think? I mean they're using us to locate the tesseract so that they can make weapons."

""He has an army, called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract" said Thor.

"Well I think SHIELD is killing two birds with one stone. They're getting the tesseract out of the hands of Loki and defending the earth" Natasha said. She did not seem concerned that Fury wasn't telling her everything about the mission.

"You and Tony don't seem at all alarmed that SHIELD has been keeping things from us" Bruce noted.

"Well I've worked with SHIELD for a while and I've come to accept the fact that they don't always tell us what's going on. " she replied. Many times Natasha had gone into a mission only knowing few details but she had always had Clint to help her out.

"That's not the issue I'm perfectly fine with them defending the earth, what I'm concerned about is what else they're probably keeping from us" Steve said impatiently.

"Which is why I break into their secure files, why should I follow their orders if they're lying?" Tony was swirled in his chair which agitated Steve.

Fury walked into the room and turned to Natasha "I have news about the where abouts of the tesseract and ..."

"Because orders and orders and they need to be followed no matter what" shouted Steve as he ignored Fury and continued arguing with Tony.

"I believe ..." began Thor however he was interrupted by Fury's yelling.

"Everyone needs to calm down" yelled Fury over the noise but Steve and Tony were too busy arguing to notice. The room was getting louder by the second as everyone was trying to shout over each other.

"Following's not really my style. I'm more of a rebel" Tony shouted defiantly in his Black Sabbath t-shirt.

"And you're all about style, aren't you?" Steve bellowed back angrily.

"Would you too just shut up and listen to Fury "yelled Natasha trying to get everyone's attention.

"There is no sense of order in here you are all hurting my head." roared Thor as he lifted his giant heads up to head.

"Of the people in this room, which one is A - wearing a spangly outfit and B - not of use?" Tony shouted back to Steve.

The noise was getting to Bruce and the tension was making him get frustrated and angry. He finally just couldn't take it anymore. "WOULD YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP?"

The room fell silent and everyone froze. They were all looking at Bruce nervously worried that the other guy was going to make an appearance.

"Calm down Dr. Banner-"Fury slowly said in an attempt to calm Bruce down.

"THIS ISN'T A TEAM THIS A TICKING TIME BOMB" he said lividly as he looked at each of their fearful faces.

Fury was getting worried, "Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his... "

"Back where? " Bruce turned to Natasha "my cage?"

"The cell was built... "Fury started.

"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know I tried" he shouted. Suddenly everyone's expressions of fear turned to shock but Bruce continued on. "I was in a bad place and didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out!" he paused to register everyone's expression. Natasha looked pale but he continued on "So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!"

Natasha was looking uncomfortable and a little guilty as she avoided his gaze. She started second guessing convincing him to come here. She should have just respected his wishes and left him alone.

Bruce stared at Natasha, "You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know **how** I stay calm."

It didn't take a second before both Fury and Natasha's hands were on their guns. Natasha held her breath, the air was tense and no one made a sound.

All of the sudden there was a sudden jolt, a loud crash and the emergency lights started flashing red followed by an obnoxious warning alarm. Everyone looked up in panic as a message was heard over the intercom. "Fury please come to the control room we need your assistance."

"We've been hit; I have to go check to see what's going on." Fury hastily left the room to survey the damage.

"Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my little party trick after all" Bruce said. Everyone was partially relieved to leave the room and they quickly followed Fury to see what they could do to help.

It turned out that Clint and along with a couple other possessed agents had attacked their aircraft and damaged one of the engines. While they were still airborne any more damage might cause them to crash. Steve and Tony had to work out their differences and try to keep them in the air while fighting Clint. Even though Captain America and Iron Man did their best to fight off the possessed agents another engine was damaged and they were losing power and in danger of crashing.

Natasha and Bruce had gone down to one of the confined storage rooms to find something for Fury when the aircraft started plunging down with loss of one of the engines. Bruce started feeling stress and the small confined space did not help. As they were about to leave a huge pipe fixture fell on Natasha trapping her legs and she was unable to move. Bruce was starting to shake and he felt like he was losing control. Natasha tried to reach him as best as she could but she found it difficult to move under the debris.

Natasha was getting very worried and concerned when she saw Bruce on all fours shaking as he began turning into the Hulk.

"Doctor Banner? Bruce. You have to fight it." Natasha needed to convince him that he could handle this for her safety and everyone's on this aircraft "This is just what Loki wants. We're going to be okay. Listen to me." She wanted Bruce to know that she was there to help him get through this. Natasha wanted to comfort him and calm him down as she reached for him but the debris trapping her legs wouldn't let her get close enough to him.

Bruce was trying to fight his transformation but the stress was getting to him and he didn't know if he could control himself. Natasha continued to struggle with the debris as she wrested her aching legs from the heavy metal pipe.

"We're going to be okay. Right? I swear on my life I will get you out of this, you will walk away, and never-"

Bruce looked up at Natasha in rage as his skin was turning a pale green color as he struggled to fight his transformation. "YOUR LIFE" he yelled. He couldn't control his transformation, his skin turned a dark green color and his dark purple shirt ripped as he became the Hulk. Natasha had a look of horror and shock as the other guy looked over his shoulders. "Bruce." she said in a very small voice. She hoped that Bruce could hear her but as The Hulk roared and started running towards her she doubted it and Natasha began struggling to free her leg. She managed to free her leg from the debris she started sprinting as the Hulk followed her. She kept running but the Hulk kept breaking things and she was at risk of being hit by the debris. Thor suddenly appeared and distracted the Hulk. Natasha was ever so grateful and she was able to escape as she heard Thor shout "We are not your enemies, Banner! Try to think!" This only seemed to enrage the Hulk more and Natasha left before she saw anything else.

Natasha had narrowly escaped being crushed or attacked by the Hulk. Maybe she should have respected Bruce's wishes and not brought him along on this mission he obviously was more aware of the damage he was capable of. She now understood why he wanted to live a life of seclusion, so that he wouldn't have to hurt those he carried about without realizing it.

**Please review! Feel free to offer any type of suggestions, what you might want to see or any bad grammar/spelling errors. Thank you for reading! I should have the next chapter up soon.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I apologize but this chapter is a bit short, I hope you like it regardless. In case you were wondering I skipped over the whole part when the avengers fight Loki because I wanted it to be very similar to the movie. In addition there wasn't much Bruce/Natasha action so I skipped to the part where they are all supposed to take a break after their hard work.**

The Avengers fought together as they expelled the hostile aliens from their planet and defeating Loki. The team had decided to take a break from their work and they all split up for a while. Tony took Pepper on a romantic getaway to France while Steve stayed home and pounded on his heavy bags. Thor returned to Asgard, Natasha went to England and Clint went to Canada. Bruce refused to let anyone know where he was going much to their dismay.

"Why can't you tell us?" asked Steve curiously. He didn't understand why a vacation spot was such a big deal.

"I just want my privacy" he would simply reply.

"He's probably going to some third world country to help dying orphans" Tony joked in his usual obnoxious manner.

Bruce looked like he was about say something before deciding "I'm not going to dignify that with a response."

"You just did" Tony said smugly. Bruce rolled his eyes in annoyance; he couldn't wait for his vacation. As much as he enjoyed working with his team sometimes their antics got on his last nerves.

Bruce refused to tell them for he was determined to keep his secret location under cover. Bruce had a special place he went to that helped him relax and get his head on straighter.

Bruce's special place for de-stressing was in this little town in Italy called Alfonsine. He loved the peace and quiet as well as the delicious food. Italy had special place in Bruce's heart, he loved the calm and laid back atmosphere that he couldn't find in New York for example. He had bought a small home in Italy and he just couldn't wait to get there. His home was a special get-away for him when he felt like he couldn't control his stress. Once he got to Italy his worries and stress would melt away and any notion that the other guy would appear were gone. Bruce usually avoided traveling on small airplanes with hundreds of people because of the risk and he preferred going by boat.

He booked a ten day cruise for himself that would take him to Italy along with a variety of other locations the ship stopped at. He had always enjoyed going on boats with his father and his time spent on the cruise would most definitely enjoyable. For ten days he could enjoy a smoothie while relaxing on a ship's deck until he reached Italy. He could get a massage, go swimming, work out in the gym or have a fancy dinner all by himself, now this was a vacation. During his ten days he spent several hours on the deck reading a book in the sea breeze. Everything was perfect and it was the first time in a while he was able to leave behind his worries. The ten days flew by and on the last day of the cruise he was sorry to leave and he decided to make the best of it.

* * *

Natasha had lied. She told everyone she was going to London but she intended to go on a Mediterranean cruise taking her to Rome, Italy. She didn't like people knowing what she planned on doing so she hides the truth from everyone else. It wouldn't matter anyways she had thought no one will know either way. Natasha had booked a 10 day cruise on a luxury cruise ship complete with a spa, pool, smoothie bars and amazing views. It was nice not thinking about work and not having to worry about what everyone else thought of her. On the final day of the cruise Natasha wanted to sit back and relax next to the pool and maybe soak up a little sun. She wore a sundress accompanied by a large hat to provide her shade. Just as she was about to sit down on one of the chairs she suddenly saw a familiar man walk not too far from her towards the pool in swim trunks and a towel. Natasha nearly spilled her smoothie all over herself. "Oh dear god" she whispered in panic as she quickly put on her big sunglasses. She couldn't believe her eyes, the man was none other than Dr. Bruce Banner. She prayed that her sunglasses and hat would keep him from identifying her. She quickly noticed a stack of magazines by her and she put her smoothie down and started to "read" one of the magazines. Natasha's immediate reaction was to leave and go somewhere else so that she didn't face the risk of being identified. However she was wearing a bright sundress with a large hat and sunglasses so she was very much incognito and it would be unlikely Bruce would recognize her. She was also just a little bit curious to see what a man like Bruce Banner did in his free time. She pretended to read the magazine as she watched Bruce from afar.

* * *

Bruce grabbed a towel and headed towards the pool; swimming seemed like a great idea on such a hot day. He eased himself into the pool's cool water and immediately felt his muscles relax. He swam laps for half an hour and then soaked in the hot tub for ten minutes. He then got out of the water and headed towards the shower and as he was rinsing his head he saw a red head looking at him but she quickly looked away. He told himself that she was probably looking at something else and he had only imagined she was looking at him. Bruce headed back to his room to take a nap before getting ready for dinner.

* * *

While Bruce was rinsing his hair out in one of the showers Natasha hadn't realized she was staring at him until he looked up. Their eyes met but Natasha quickly looked away cursing herself for blowing her cover. However Bruce didn't seem to think much of it and he left the pool area. She sighed a breath of relief; she didn't want to ruin Bruce's vacation. She still couldn't believe that somehow they ended up on the same cruise ship. It could have been worse she thought I could have been stuck here with Tony or Thor. She laughed at the thought of Thor on a cruise ship; he'd probably destroy the ship with his hammer. Suddenly something hit Natasha, if Bruce found out she was here and that she was spying on him he might jump to conclusions. He might think that she following and spying on him for SHIELD which would probably anger him enough to cause excessive damage. She needed to be more careful, luckily tonight was their last night on the ship. Natasha went back to her room and cancelled her original plans to have dinner in one of the fancy restaurants. Tonight she was going to stay in watch some TV and order room service.

**Please review! Feel free to ask any questions or give me any suggestions. **


	6. Chapter 6

**This is also pretty short but I hope you enjoy it. The story is going to get more and more interesting. Chapter 5 and 6 are very different from the previous chapters.**

Natasha was still debating whether or not she should leave Italy. On one hand she wanted Bruce to enjoy his much needed vacation and she had a feeling that her presence would not be welcome. Why should she leave though? She came here to eat Italian food, go shopping and sightseeing in Rome. It wasn't her fault they both ended up in the same place at the same time. Maybe it was fate or a coincidence either way she was going to get her pasta tonight. She was also going to get some serious shopping done, she rarely had time to go shopping when she was working and now was her chance. Besides Italy was pretty big what were the odds of them ending up in the same city?

* * *

Bruce had originally wanted to go straight to his home in Alfonsine but Rome was a beautiful city and he was convinced that he should spend a couple days there. Normally Bruce just passed through Rome but this time he decided to give the city a chance. The city was filled with culture and history which would be a great contrast to Alfonsine. He reserved a hotel for three days right in the middle of Rome. He sure was looking forward to spending the day in Rome learning about its history and visiting either the colosseum or the Trevi Fountain. He found a book in his hotel room about the history of the Romans which he started to read. After a while he left his hotel room for dinner at a nearby restaurant that didn't seem too crowded or busy. The restaurant's quite charm appealed to him and he was looking forward to having his Penne all'arrabbiata tonight.

* * *

From the moment Natasha got off the ship the first thing she did after she checked into her hotel was go shoe shopping. The Italians were famous for their shoes and she intended to buy as many pairs as possible. If there was one thing she loved more than anything in the world it was shoe shopping. Several hours and pairs of shoes later she realized it was getting late and it was time for her to get a bit to eat. On the way back to her hotel she saw a small charming restaurant and the smell of the food called out to her. Natasha was quickly seated at a small table outside by a kind waiter. As she looked over the menu she had trouble figuring out what to eat. She finally settled on gnocchi with mushroom sauce. After she ordered her food a waitress came out poured water into her cup and gave her bread with olive oil. When Natasha's food finally came out the smells were overwhelming and her mouth began to water just as she was about to dig in a man came out of the restaurant. That man was none other than Bruce Banner their eyes met and they both were speechless as they stared at each other in disbelief.

"When in Rome." Bruce finally managed while he was still staring at her as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise. Natasha knew he was in Italy but she didn't expect him to end up at the same restaurant as her. The odds were clearly not in her favor.

"I just finished eating dinner. You're the last person I expected to see here I thought you were going to England" he asked still standing not sure what he should do.

Natasha noticed that he was still standing so she offered him a seat before replying "I didn't want to tell people where I was really going probably for the same reasons you wouldn't tell anyone."

"At least it's you I mean imagine if I ran into Tony and Pepper now that would be awkward." Bruce and Natasha both laughed. Natasha could just imagine the horror of running into Tony and all the things he would say when he saw the both of them together in Italy.

Natasha took a sip of water and offered Bruce a piece of bread, "You probably don't know this but I actually already knew you were coming to Italy because I saw you on our cruise ship." Bruce looked a little confuse but she continued, "I was totally surprised but I kept my distance because I didn't want to ruin your vacation."

"No I didn't notice, thanks for respecting my privacy but don't worry you wouldn't have ruined my vacation I enjoy your company." So she was that red-head that was watching him while he was rinsing his hair out in the showers next to the pool that day on the cruise ship.

"Thanks Bruce, I also didn't know you'd be staying in the city let alone eat at the same restaurant as me." She didn't want him to think she was just stalking him or anything.

"I was actually not planning on staying in Rome but the city is so breathtaking and I felt like I had to spend a couple days here. I was actually going to my small home in Alfonsine."

"Is that 'secret vacation spot'? she asked.

"Well it's not much of a secret. I just didn't want anyone to follow me here" he smiled.

"Oh. Sorry." Natasha felt a little embarrassed so her presence was unwelcome here.

"I'm totally kidding. Besides you didn't follow me here, fate brought us both here."

Natasha paid for her food and they both went on a walk as they continued talking.

"How long were you planning to stay in Rome?" asked Bruce.

"I was going to spend a week in Rome and a couple days in a few other cities. Why?"

"If you want maybe you can accompany me to my home in Alfonsine. You don't have to if you don't want." He couldn't believe he had just asked her to accompany him. She was probably going to say no he was sure she had better things to do that-

"I would love to" beamed Natasha. "Thank you so much for the offer, but are you sure I won't be interfering with your de-stressing process?" As much she would love to visit the place he had kept from everyone she didn't want to bother him.

"I'm sure everything will be fine. We can leave in a three days" he said a little too excitedly.

"That sounds good, do you want to meet up tomorrow?" she asked. She was thinking they could meet up for coffee or gelato after she went shopping.

"I wanted to go to the collosseum would you like to come with me?" he asked her nervously as if he was asking her out on a date.

"I've always wanted to see the colosseum but we have to go shoe shopping after wards and get gelato." She wasn't going to sacrifice a day of shoe shopping for anything.

"Fine shoe shopping" he sighed. He didn't want to admit it but he was really looking forward to spending the day with Natasha.

**Please, please, please review! It motivates me to write faster and helps me improve as a writer. Thanks for the story alerts and favorites they make my day. Thanks again.**


	7. Chapter 7

**So here is Chapter 7! I hope you enjoy reading it. **

After a couple days of dragging Bruce shopping and sightseeing in Rome it soon was time for them to leave. Soon it was time for Natasha and Bruce to leave Rome and head towards Antoine which was only a four hour drive. Bruce and Natasha found a taxi to take them to their location.

"So where is this place again?" she asked.

"It's a small town; I went their years ago with my family when I was much younger. I fell in love with the town the first time I went there and as I got older I would always come back to it. Eventually I ended up buying a small home there."

Natasha smiled, she too had a special place she enjoyed visiting that held many memories for her. Sedona, Arizona held a special place in her heart for that was the place she had gotten married at. While the marriage did not last very long, her fondness for Sedona did not diminish. "Thanks for bringing me to a place that's so special to you.

"No problem, just promise you won't tell the others about it." He wasn't kidding, he didn't want his home to end up being some meeting place for the Avengers.

"It'll be our secret. Maybe someday I'll take you to my secret hideaway in Arizona." Next time she planned on visiting Arizona she was going to invite Bruce so that they could go to the Grand Canyon or something.

After several hours they finally arrived at their destination. The taxi dropped them off at Alfonsine at 6pm and they had to walk a small distance before they could reach Bruce's home. His home was secluded and difficult to spot from far away especially as it got darker.

"Here it is "Bruce announced as he proudly opened the door. Sure it was nothing fancy but it was comfy and he loved it just the way it was.

Natasha walked through the door and immediately felt welcome, "This is great Bruce." The place was small but very cozy.

"Thanks, it's not much but I have to admit it's one of the few places I truly feel comfortable at." Bruce set his bag down next to the coffee table and offered Natasha a seat.

"Thanks again for taking me here." She sat down in one of his chairs. One thing she really liked about his home was how it perfectly fit his personality. His home was practical, warm and modest just like him.

Bruce's house only had two small bedrooms (one which Bruce had been using as an office), one bathroom, a tiny kitchen and a living room.

"I see you don't cook much" Natasha joked as she eyed the cramped kitchen.

"Funny you should mention that I actually do use the kitchen a lot for cooking. I've gotten used to its size."

"Does that mean you'll be making me dinner?" she asked. Bruce didn't look like the type who would spend his time baking cookies and thought of him in an apron made her laugh a little.

"No, actually I was hoping to go out for dinner. I don't feel like cooking I'm exhausted" he responded.

The two went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant. They were both seated at a small table covered in floral table cloth inside. They waitress poured them some water and then Natasha went to restroom to wash her hands before dinner. The waitress had come to take their orders while Natasha was washing her hands. She took Bruce's order first and then asked him "What would your wife like to order?" Bruce almost choked on his water as he saw Natasha behind the waitress.

"I see you're back from the restroom, "the waitress began "I was just asking your husband if he knew what you wanted to order."

Natasha blushed red and told the waitress her order. She had to admit they did look like they were a couple even though they weren't. Natasha and Bruce were just friends and that's all that they would ever be. She was done with relationships, she was done getting hurt and she wasn't going to ruin her friendship with Bruce. The remainder of the evening was awkward at the restaurant as neither one of them knew what to say.

When that waitress called Natasha his wife he had almost chocked on his water. The fact that Natasha heard her only made it ten times worse. He knew that Natasha wasn't into relationships anymore especially after hearing what happened between her and Clint. He heard that Clint and Natasha had gotten close but Natasha refused to start a relationship and while they were still friends their friendship was damaged. Natasha had broken Clint's heart and for that she felt like she owed him something. He didn't want her to think that he'd brought her to make her swoon or because he had feelings for her. He brought her because she was someone who helped him see perspective and he trusted her. In the short time he'd known her he was able to call her a friend and trust her. He never found out the complete reason why Natasha was so against relationships but he felt it might have something to do with getting her heart broken.

It was no secret that Natasha hated relationships but few people knew why. Many people would be surprised to learn that Natasha had once been married. She had fallen in love and married a pilot named Alexi Shostakov. Her husband also worked as a spy and when he was offered a promotion one of his conditions was to no sever all contacts with his wife. Apparently their marriage meant nothing to him so he faked his death and he trained as a secret agent separately. Natasha was heartbroken and her name "black widow" came to take a literal meaning. She mourned his death for over a year, one day she was on a mission to get top secret information. There was another spy there and he looked awfully familiar. When she recognized her supposedly dead husband as that spy was she was beyond shocked. It was then he explained what he had done. She was heartbroken when she found out how quickly he tossed her aside at the prospect of moving up in his career. She was furious that she had wasted almost an entire year mourning the death of her kind and trustworthy husband. He could have simply asked her for a divorce instead of making her think he was dead. Ever since that incident Natasha remained pessimistic about all relationships. She thought her relationship with Alexi had been strong and built on love when he "died". She had been dreaming and mourning a "loving" relationship that had never existed. For all she knew he had only married her to use her or because of her appearance. From that day on she vowed she would never let anyone hurt her like that again. When Clint told her he had feelings for her she made it very clear that she would severe her friendship with him. Clint agreed to forget and ignore his feelings and they remained friends. She felt guilty for hurting Clint but she was protecting herself. Nothing could tempt her to change her feelings on the topic.

**I would appreciate if you took the time to review! Feel free to let me know if I made any errors. Thank you for reading.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here is Chapter 8. Thank you so much Eskimoq for reviewing from the first day. Thanks Amber-Jade James and whitetigerwolf for your kind reviews. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

Natasha and Bruce's dinner had very little conversation. Bruce had little success in getting Natasha to talk and he was confused. He wondered if he had done anything to offend her. When they got home it was late and they were both exhausted from their long trip.

Even though Bruce's house had two bedrooms only one had a bed and the other was used as his office. Bruce offered Natasha his room and he would sleep on the couch. Natasha refused.

"Absolutely not, this is your home, your vacation and I will not ruin it for you." Natasha appreciated his gentleman like manners it was one of the many things she liked about him. That was a problem. The longer she was around him the more she liked him. She needed to keep her distance and she couldn't stay here around him.

Bruce didn't like the idea of making her sleep on his couch and he kept insisting that she take his room. However Natasha was firm on her stance about sleeping on the couch. Eventually he was too tired to argue with her and he gave in.

Natasha changed into her long night gown and curled up on the couch with a blanket. First thing tomorrow she was going to find another place to stay. It was the best for the both of them, Bruce would be able to feel comfortable and she wouldn't have to worry about getting too close to him.

Bruce went to bed feeling very confused and slightly hurt. He didn't understand why Natasha had become so cold towards him. He tried to figure out what he could have possibly said or done to anger or make her feel resentment towards him.

The next morning while they were having breakfast in silence, Natasha as promised told Bruce of her plans to find another place to stay. She would stay in Alfonsine but she would stay in a hotel or something. Bruce was shocked he didn't know what to say.

"I don't want to impose on you and I feel like it would be the best option for the both of us that way we don't get sick of each other" Natasha explained as she took a bit of bread.

Bruce felt guilty, was she leaving because he made her sleep on his couch? He knew he should have been more insisting. He was officially the worst host ever.

"I apologize about making you sleep on the couch. I promise you can take my room you don't have to leave my house. Again I'm really sorry if I didn't make you feel welcome."

"No no that wasn't it at all. You have been a great host and I was the one who insisted on sleeping on the couch." Natasha felt rotten for making Bruce think it was his fault she was leaving his home. "Bruce don't get me wrong I love your home it's just that I think it would be the best for the both of us."

"You see I keep hearing you say that but I don't understand."

She wasn't too sure about telling him the truth. She didn't want him to think she was leaving because she wasn't comfortable at the same time telling him the truth would be the opposite of keeping her distance. She sighed and decided to just tell him why she had started acting strange after the waitress mentioned the word "wife".

She took a deep breath and began, "the reason I didn't want to stay wasn't because of anything you did. It's just that I have some unresolved issues."

"It's not you it's me, how many times have had to hear that."

"In this case I'm serious. Last night that waitress thought we were "together". Natasha cringed at the word. "I started getting paranoid thinking you had feelings for me. When you were being kind enough to give me your room I started misinterpreting your actions. I decided that I needed to keep my distance. It's silly; I know I just have some issues that I need to deal with."

He sort of understood but her explanation only gave him more unanswered questions. So he hadn't done anything to offend her yet he felt like he had been insulted. He knew he probably shouldn't be in a relationship anytime soon especially with his condition but her words hurt him. Was the thought of even being with him so repulsive she became worried he liked her so she decided to keep her distance? Bruce frowned and felt a little angry "Don't worry I wasn't looking to start a relationship. I just wanted to be nice" he said a little too coldly.

Natasha noticed that he looked a little hurt. "Bruce it's not you, it really isn't. It's something that happened to me in my past that keeps holding me back."

Bruce didn't look at her; she was probably just saying that to make him feel better. Natasha needed to tell him about her past to explain everything.

"You might not know this but I was once married. I got married when I was 21 to this man I liked to call Alex. Well after two blissful years of marriage my husband passed away. I mourned his death for almost over a year. SHIELD assigned me to go get top secret information and there was another agent trying to get the same information. That agent was my supposedly dead husband. I didn't recognize him at first but when I did I was speechless. I couldn't believe my eyes. At first I was happy to see my husband well and alive but then I learned that he had faked his death. He faked his death because his agency wanted him to severe all contact with me. Our marriage meant nothing to him and I guess he lied about caring about me because he agreed to it. Ever since I've been afraid of getting my heart broken and the thought or mere implication of getting into a relationship scares me." Natasha felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders yet she had just revealed something important about herself to Bruce.

Bruce did not say anything but instead walked over to her and gave her a hug. Had he not listened to a single word she said about not wanting to get close to people? Now he was hugging her and they were literally closer than ever. Her mind was screaming at her to push Bruce away yet her damaged heart needed Bruce's act of kindness and compassion. She loved his caring nature yet she hated him for making her feel the way she was feeling now. She was going to regret letting Bruce get close to her. She thought that if she told him about her past he would be more careful and make an effort to keep his distance. Instead sharing something about her past had only brought them closer.

**Please review I really do appreciate it! Any suggestions/ insight/ comments are welcome. Thank you for reading.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9! I'm not going to update for a day or two because I'm going to take a break from updating everyday. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

After Natasha's revelation to him about her past Bruce was able to understand why she had been acting so distant. He had to admit he was surprised to learn she had once been married. Natasha didn't exactly look like someone who would ever get married and he just couldn't imagine her in a wedding dress. Perhaps when she was a little younger she was more into relationships. He couldn't blame her however for being cynical about relationships after that terrible ordeal she had to go through. I thought it was ironic how despite the fact Natasha had intended to keep her distance from him by telling him about her past they had grown closer. He wasn't going to let Natasha know this any time soon but he did like her. He enjoyed her company, the conversations they had and the fact that he could trust her. This probably sounded bad but he was relieved she was so against relationships that way he wouldn't get his hopes up. He too was against relationships not because he hated them or because of a bad experience but because of his condition. He would be a fool to think any woman would ever love him and the other guy when he hated the other part of him. Being in a relationship would be selfish of him since he would be putting the other person at risk. Any feelings he had for Natasha would amount to nothing. He was a monster and she was beautiful yet damaged.

Natasha felt like an idiot. She shouldn't have told Bruce about her past. She completely contradicted herself; the only saving grace was the fact that she hadn't hurt Bruce's feelings. The way she was trying to explain everything made it sound as if she found him repulsive. That wasn't at all the case. She found him attractive but that wasn't something she ever denied she had come to terms with it the first day she had met him. She started thinking about that hug he had given her. That hug, it wasn't one a friend would give to another friend. It was much more; it had been kindhearted, caring and compassionate. The more time she spent around Bruce the more she liked him and wanted to get to know him. Now they were basically living together. She couldn't do this. There was a part of her that wished they could be together. His hug had brought that part out in her. His hug brought out the memories of having her husband hug her and her desire for that. A desire that shouldn't even exist in the first place but it was all her fault. She couldn't like him; she needed to leave him alone. Once their vacation was over she was going to try avoiding him without him knowing. She was going to convince SHIELD to send her on that 6 month mission in Sao Paolo.

Lunch was awkward. No other word could explain it better. Bruce thought Natasha's confession would clear things up and they could go back to being friends. There was a rift between them and Bruce felt like it might have to do with the hug he gave her. It was a stupid thing for him to do especially after he learned how against getting close to people she was. He didn't want their friendship to end up like what happened when Clint confessed his feelings.

Bruce couldn't stand the silence, "So what do you want to do today?"

Natasha thought for a moment, what would require the least contact or talking. "Are there any opera houses or musical concerts on tonight?"

"I believe there is a play tonight but I'll have to check" he replied.

"That's perfect." She hoped the play would be a tragedy.

They spent the remainder of the day going through shops while speaking very little. Natasha made no attempt at conversation and she would only reply to Bruce's questions. Bruce was getting frustrated; he hated being given the cold shoulder. He was relieved that it was soon time for them to go to the play. As they sat down next to each other the play began luckily both of them understood Italian so they could understand what was going on. Much to Natasha's horror she recognized the play and it was a tragedy just liked she wanted. The play was none other than Romeo and Juliet in fair Verona. Bruce had picked out the play. Natasha suddenly became very angry; Bruce was trying to make her like him. How dare he play around with her feelings? She got up and left the theater. Bruce was shocked when he saw Natasha angrily leave the theater. He quickly ran after her.

"Natasha wait! What's wrong?" he asked in alarm.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? You know I'm having issues with my feelings and now you're being cruel. I wish I'd never told you about my past. Why would you pick a play like Romeo and Juliet after everything I told you? Why would you give me a hug? Why Bruce why would you do this to me?" she yelled.

Bruce was speechless. He was having trouble registering and understanding everything she just said. "I didn't pick Romeo and Juliet, you wanted to go to a play and it was the only option. I gave you a hug because I didn't know what else to do. You look upset and I wanted to make you feel better." Did Natasha really have feelings for him?

"I'm sorry I blew up in your face about the play. I still don't understand why you would hug me after I practically asked you to back off."

"Back off?" he raised his eyebrow. "I just don't know what to do Natasha, I try to be nice and you get mad. I really don't know what else to do at this point."

"That's the problem. Everything you do is perfect and so considerate and I hate it. I hate it because it makes me like you more. I can't like you or anyone I will not be hurt like that ever again."

Bruce was getting angry everything he did just seemed to piss her off. "I don't understand why you're getting all worked up over nothing. I don't have feelings for you I was just trying to be a good friend."

Natasha noticed her anger and she was silent for a couple seconds before speaking. "Maybe the two of us going on vacation wasn't the best idea for us."

She paused, "I shouldn't have come with you. I only ruined your vacation and caused you stress. I apologize and I will pack my bags and leave tomorrow."

Bruce was disappointed, Alfonsine had always brought him joy and relaxation now he was feeling nothing but pain and stress.

**Please feel free to review. Any suggestions or comments are appreciated. I love reviews! Thank you for reading.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 is really short! I'm sorry but I've been a little busy. Thank you for understanding. I promise the next chapter will be a lot longer. I also felt like there wasn't much I could add to this chapter without making it redundant. Regardless I hope you enjoy this chapter and this story!**

Bruce went to bed frustrated and angry. He just couldn't believe Natasha; he had been nothing but a gracious host. For some reason Natasha was taking his kind actions as ones of affection. Even if he really did have any feelings for her that went beyond liking he would never act on them. For one thing the other guy terminated any chance of him of ever getting into any type of relationship. Second even before he knew about Natasha' history with her husband he had gotten the idea that she wasn't the relationship type. It didn't matter what his feelings were for her, they could never be together. He wouldn't allow himself to be with her and she wouldn't allow herself to be with him. Bruce spent all night thinking about this and he couldn't fall asleep.

* * *

As Natasha attempted to fall asleep a bout of insomnia took over and all she could think about was Bruce. She was now calm and when she recalled everything she had said to him she started to feel embarrassed. Not only had she overreacted she had probably alienated Bruce and practically confessed to having feelings for her. What the hell was wrong with her? Bruce had done nothing to deserve this. Yet the way he handled her outburst was admirable. She needed to apologize first thing tomorrow. Natasha planned out exactly how she would apologize. She felt restless and she couldn't sleep. A nagging thought in her a head kept pestering her and she kept thinking about her apology. She couldn't sleep and she gave on trying when the clock read 4:30. She decided she'd better start packing her bags now. Packing her bags took less than 20 minutes because she had only spent a couple days here. She sat on her bed still not knowing what to do for a few minutes. Suddenly the perfect idea popped into her head. She would make Bruce breakfast as part of her apology. Sure she wasn't some famous chef but she knew how to cook. Natasha walked out of her room and into the tiny kitchen to see what he had in his fridge and pantry so she could decide what to cook. While she was looking through his fridge she felt something so she froze and turned around. Bruce was standing there looking a little confused in his pajamas. Natasha was happy to see him now she could finally apologize and get this huge weight off her chest.

"I see you're getting a snack at…" he paused to look at his watch "5:12 in the morning." He wondered what she could be doing so early in the morning.

Natasha closed the fridge door, "actually I was going to make you breakfast as an apology for yesterday. I need to apologize for the way I behaved yesterday. I completely overreacted and I'm sorry for my outburst."

Bruce stood there looking a little awkward. "Its fine I guess. I mean I of all people understand what it's like to lose control once in a while."

"I don't what came over me. I couldn't sleep all night and I couldn't take it anymore so I was going to make you a surprise apology breakfast."

"You don't have to; does that mean you're going to stay?" Bruce asked hopefully. He decided it was best not to mention the fact that he had stayed up all night thinking about her.

"Do you want me to stay?" she asked looking a little uncertain. On one hand she wanted to stay on the other she didn't want to disturb and bother Bruce anymore.

"Yes, I want you to stay," he replied. "So how about that breakfast you promised me?" he smiled.

"Coming right up." Natasha was grateful that Bruce had allowed her to stay after her fit. She was going to make sure that this breakfast was the best he'd ever had.

**Please review! Reviews help me improve my writing and motivate me to update faster. Thank you for reading.**


	11. Chapter 11

**So here is Chapter 11! I hope you enjoy it. I don't when I'll update again but hopefully soon. It might take me a while because I'm not sure how I want the story to play out.**

Bruce and Natasha's went by much smoother and they were able to explore Alfonsine together. On the last night of their vacation the two took a walk after dinner.

Natasha sighed, "I can't believe how fast this vacation went. I mean we're going back tomorrow and I'm really going to miss this place."

"Maybe next time we have a vacation we can come here or go to that place you mentioned in Arizona." Bruce doubted their next vacation would come soon.

"Yeah," smiled Natasha. She was happy that they had gotten past the incident and that they're friendship was unscathed. Their friendship had grown through this vacation and they had gotten closer. The fact that they'd grown closer didn't bother Natasha. They had gotten closer as friends and nothing more she would tell herself.

The next day everything was packed and they were set to leave. They took a taxi to Rome and from there they went to the airport. Natasha and Bruce were going on different flights to different destinations. Natasha was going back to the SHIELD headquarters to see what her next assignment was. Bruce was going to Stark Towers where he would be meeting Tony Stark to collaborate on some new ideas.

"Bye Bruce, I'll see you around I guess. I'm probably going to visit Tony and Pepper next month. Remember don't tell Tony we went on the same vacation."

"I promise I won't," replied Bruce the last thing he needed was for Tony and the others to assume things. "Good bye and I'll see you soon."

Natasha boarded her flight and was set to stop in Spain before heading back. Bruce's flight was taking him straight to India.

Natasha set her carryon bags in the compartment and sat down in her first class seat. No one sat next to her and she was grateful for that. Her flight to Spain was short and soon she arrived in Madrid. She had to wait two hours for her flight before it took her to her destination. Finally it was time for her to board her second airplane.

She put her carryon bags away and right when she was about to put her seat belt on she heard a familiar voice.

"France was as lame as usual. I can't believe I let you drag me through that stupid cheese factory" said Tony Stark in his loud voice.

Tony Stark was the last person she wanted to run in to. The first class compartment of their airplane and she knew there was no point in trying to hide especially since she would need to use the restroom at some point. She got up and decided she might as well make her presence known.

"Tony, what a small world we're on the same flight!" Natasha knew she was going to regret this but she really had no choice at this point. Their flight was over eight hours long and she couldn't go that long without using the restroom.

"Natasha! It's great to see you" exclaimed Pepper. Natasha didn't mind seeing Pepper it was Tony and his mischievous ways that worried her.

"So what have you been up to on your vacation?" he asked.

"Oh nothing much I just you know went to England. It was pleasant I visited London and Buckingham palace. How was France?" She said trying to avoid talking about her own vacation.

"France was lovely," replied Pepper. Natasha noticed Tony's annoyed look.

"What you didn't like France?" asked Natasha.

"Let me list a couple of my least favorite things: stinky cheese, people and subways. What did Paris have? All of the above."

Natasha had to go back to her seat and put on her seatbelt because it was time for the airplane to take off.

After two hours dinner was served. After dinner Natasha received a visit from Tony who sat in the empty seat beside her.

"So what's up Nat?" he asked.

"Please don't call me that. I was just going to look at a magazine. So what brings you here?"

Tony smiled, "I just wanted you to inform you that I know you didn't actually go to England."

Natasha tried her best to keep her composure but she was speechless and Tony continued to talk. "I saw you at the airport in Madrid before you boarded this airplane. I was on my way to buy some nachos when I saw you coming out of Gate 12. Gate 12 was for people coming back from Italy."

Natasha calmly replied, "Nothing misses your attention. I told everyone I was going to London but I actually went to Rome. I didn't want anyone to follow me."

"Typical, so what were you doing in Italy?" Tony just wouldn't let the Italy thing go.

"I went shoe shopping and ate some pasta." Natasha quickly changed the subject, "did you spend your entire time in Paris or did you visit other parts of France?"

"We spent some time in Nice and Cannes. What about you?"

"I just stayed in Rome." She was lying through her teeth but she couldn't let Tony of all people know she had spent her vacation with Bruce. She made a mental note to tell Bruce to make sure he didn't reveal the location of his "secret" vacation spot to anyone. Natasha took a deep breath, "Tony promises me you won't tell anyone I lied about going to London."

"Fine, but you have to convince Pepper to let me take her to the Bahamas next time we have a vacation." Natasha had been the one to convince Pepper to go to France after telling her about the amazing food in Paris. Tony's condition was easy enough to follow and Natasha was grateful he wasn't giving her a hard time.

Tony finally went back to his seat and Natasha was able to relax a little. After a couple of hours they finally landed in New York. Natasha said goodbye to Tony and Pepper and they parted ways.

**Feel free to review and let me know what you think about this chapter. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading! Any suggestions on how I should continue with this story would be great. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Here is Chapter 12! I apologize for not updating for a little while. I started working on another story and I was deciding which direction this story should go. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

Vacation was over and Bruce had to get back to work. Tony Stark offered him a place to live at the newly named "Avengers" tower and Bruce accepted. He was offered a nice room and two floors of lab space. Steve Rogers had reluctantly agreed to live at the tower and Thor divided his time between Asgard and the tower. The moment he got back from vacation Tony was hounding him about where he went for vacation. Tony didn't like being kept out the loop and he kept insisting that Bruce tell him where he went.

"Come on! Why can't you tell me? Did you go to Amsterdam?" Tony kept insisting that Bruce tell him.

"What? No! Tony I need to work." Bruce shook his head in annoyance, why couldn't he have just lied like Natasha. He could tell them he had gone to South America and then they would have all left him alone.

"You're the only one who hasn't told me where they went. Did you know that Natasha lied about her little rendezvous in England?" Tony said all of the sudden.

Bruce froze how did Tony know where Natasha went. He doubted that Natasha would tell him. "Really? That's strange."

"Yeah! I know! I was at an airport in Spain and then I saw Natasha coming out a flight that came from Italy. Tony looked excited at being able to share something that no one else knew about. Bruce started feeling a little sick. Did Natasha know that Tony had seen her? he thought. Bruce was silent and Tony continued on talking. "I didn't say anything to her but we were on the same flight and she came up and started talking to me. She got all nervous when I told her I knew about Italy."

"Did she tell you where she went?" Bruce asked looking a little concerned.

"Yeah, she said she went to Rome to eat pasta and go shoe shopping. The reason she didn't tell anyone was because she didn't want anyone to follow her. You know you're more like her than I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"For one you're both so secretive and for another you're both bad liars," Tony replied. "Well I'll leave you to your work now I have stuff to discuss with old Steve." Tony walked out of the lab leaving Bruce worried and anxious.

There was no way anyone could find out both he and Natasha had ended up in the same place or had lived in the same home. He knew exactly what everyone would assume and he didn't want that to ruin their friendship. Everyone would assume they were in some secret relationship together and that would definitely upset Natasha.

Bruce sat down and tried to work again but he was too worried. He had to talk to Natasha and make sure they were both on the same page now that Tony knew the truth about where Natasha actually went. He walked out of his lab and found a large balcony where he could make a phone call. He dialed Natasha's number and she picked up on the third ring.

"Hello," she answered.

"I just found out that Tony knows where you actually went for vacation," Bruce said.

"Yes, apparently he saw we coming out the airport gate from Italy and he was on my flight back. Bruce you have to promise me you'll make sure that no one finds out where you actually went. Make up something if you have to say you went to Peru or something. Just make sure no one knows." Natasha didn't even want to imagine what would happen if anyone found out.

"I promise no one will know we both went to Italy." Bruce would never break his promise to Natasha. "Well I'll see you later then, bye."

"Bye."

"You went to Italy with Natasha!"

Bruce felt as if he'd been hit in the stomach. He turned and saw Tony looking smug.

"That's why you wouldn't tell anyone where you were going and why Natasha lied. It all makes sense. Oh my god you both went on vacation together!" Tony looked very excited about his new discoveries.

Bruce was speechless. How could he have been so stupid? He snapped out of it and decided to do his best to do damage control. If Steve or even Thor had found out he would trust that they wouldn't blab and that they would understand. Tony would use this to his advantage.

"Tony, listen it's not what you think. I didn't know Natasha was going to Italy and she didn't know that I would be there. We ran into each other in Rome." Bruce was doing his best to explain everything but he knew that it didn't matter at this point. Even if Tony believed them he would start making snide remarks and imply things during conversations. Natasha was going to kill him if she ever found out that Tony of all people knew about their little vacation. "Tony you can't let Natasha know that you know! Please, I am begging you keep this quiet!"

Tony was uncharacteristically silent for a moment before he spoke. "Fine, I promise I won't say a word to anyone or Natasha if you answer my question. Do you like her? I mean you could have run into each other and then parted ways but you spent vacation with her."

Bruce started getting angry, "You aren't going to let this go are you?"

"Come on man I just want you to tell me the truth. I mean were bros you can tell me."

Bruce sighed, "Let's say I answer your question. Will you leave me alone and never mention anything about it? I mean Natasha will kill me if she finds out. She's worried about what everyone will think."

"Natasha worried about what everyone thinks? I didn't think that was even possible," Tony said in mock surprise.

"Shut up, I'm serious. She's had back experience with relationships and the mere implication that something went on between during our vacation would piss her off." Bruce just wanted to shut Tony up about this subject. What could he have been thinking mentioning his vacation out loud even if he didn't think anyone was listening? There were cameras everywhere his entire conversation could have been taped.

"So you don't want Natasha to know that you like her or anyone to think that you guys like each other because she was relationship issues?" Tony asked.

"Exactl- wait no! I don't like her that way!" Bruce practically yelled. "I'm serious Tony drop this and not one word to anyone! Bruce stormed out from the balcony and back into the lab. He needed to get away from the situation and calm down. He honestly didn't know what he would do if Natasha found out. She would kill him and worse of all their friendship could be over.

**Please review! I appreciate constructive criticism. Thanks for reading.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Here is Chapter 13! Sorry I haven't been able to update as often I used to. I've been really busy lately and I've also been writing a new story. Thanks for reading!**

Sighing with relief Natasha hung up the phone. There was no way anyone would learn about what happened in Italy because she knew Bruce would never tell. She trusted Bruce and she was happy to have someone she could trust.

Right as she was about to go back to work her cell phone rang. Puzzled she wondered who could be calling her. The caller id indicated that Bruce was calling her. She was growing increasingly worried as she answered the phone and heard Bruce's upset voice.

"Natasha, please don't get mad but Tony overheard the conversation we just had on the phone. Since he knows about the Italy thing he pieced everything together. I'm really sorry I should have been more careful but I didn't know he was there."

Natasha was speechless and Bruce continued to apologize. "Again I am so sorry, Tony is the last person I'd want to know about this. I made him promise to never mention anything about it again. I am so sorry, please don't be mad." He knew that Natasha couldn't harm physically but he didn't want to face her rage.

Finally Natasha found the words to speak. "I am going to kill Stark," she almost whispered. "I'm not mad at you Bruce, it's not your fault Stark's a noisy idiot."

"What are we going to do? I tried to convince him to keep things quiet but he wanted to joke around about it." Bruce was feeling anxious; he didn't want this to ruin the frail friendship he had built with Natasha.

"Bruce, calm down. I'm not mad at you. It's ok. As long as Stark shuts up about this we'll be fine. I'll take care of Stark. I'll talk to you later." Natasha hung up the phone and sighed. She felt bad for poor Bruce. If only Stark wasn't so meddlesome and so god damn annoying she thought. It looked like she was going to have to pay a visit to Stark tonight.

It was after dinner when an unexpected guest arrived.

"Tony, Natasha is here to speak to you," yelled Pepper from downstairs.

Tony froze. Bruce must have told Natasha about everything. Rolling his eyes he went down stairs to meet Natasha.

Natasha was sitting with Pepper sipping tea.

"So what brings the lovely Ms. Romanoff here?" he asked knowing exactly why she was here.

Natasha put her tea cup down as she responded, "I needed to talk to you about something."

Pepper offered Natasha a plate of tea biscuits before standing up to leave, "I'll leave you two to talk."

Tony started to panic a little, "Pepper why don't you stay here and –"

Natasha turned to Pepper and smiled, "I'm sorry but I have to talk to him about some confidential SHIELD stuff."

Pepper returned the smile, "You two go right on ahead, I'll be upstairs." Pepper departed and Tony was left alone to face the wrath of the Black Widow. He had hoped he could have gotten Pepper to stay that way Natasha wouldn't have been able to threaten him.

The smiled diminished from Natasha's face when Pepper left and her smile was replaced with scowl. "So Bruce told me you over heard our little conversation."

Tony laughed, "You two surprise me every day. Did you know that Bruce blushed when I found out you both like each other?" This infuriated Natasha; she hated how he was making a joke out of this.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she snapped. "There is nothing going on between the two of us we simply ran into each other while on vacation." Of all the people in the world that could have overheard Bruce had to be Tony Stark.

Smirking he replied, "The whole running into each other thing is a little two convenient if you ask me." The whole thing sounded weird and Tony had a feeling there was a lot to the story than what he'd managed to figure out.

"Well no one asked you. If you ever repeat what you heard to anyone you have my word I will diminish your ability to have children." Natasha's eyes were cat like and fierce and Tony backed away a little in fear.

"Ok, ok damn. Can't a guy have a little fun around here?" Something told him that Natasha wasn't kidding about this. He remembered Pepper telling him she wanted to have children once they got married and Tony didn't want to disappoint her. Not only that but he'd seen Natasha in action and he did not want to be one of her victims.

Natasha turned on her heels and walked out of the room. She immediately put on her normal face and apologized to Pepper for the interruption. As she smiled sweetly and said good night she looked directly at Tony.

**I hope you enjoyed reading my story. Please review! I love feedback and it gives me the boost to update more often. Thanks for reading.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: I'm sorry for not updating in a loooong time. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

Bruce felt very relieved that he didn't have to he didn't have to face that wrath of Natasha. He was going to be more careful from now on. Unfortunately Natasha's warning had no effect on Tony who kept winking at Bruce. Tony would even make suggestive jokes whenever Bruce and Natasha were around each other.

Natasha kept telling Bruce to ignore him but he was having a hard time doing that. There wasn't anything going on between the two of them and the fact that Tony kept implying there was, was infuriating him.

Eventually Tony got tired of bothering them and went back to teasing poor Steve. It seemed like Tony was forgetting all about them and everything was going back to normal.

Bruce began to notice that Natasha was acting rather strange. He noticed she would always find some excuse to avoid being with him. Whenever he asked her to sit with him at lunch she would say she was needed by Clint or someone. He hoped that he hadn't done anything to offend her. Thinking back the only thing he could think of that might have angered her was his little blunder. He guessed Natasha hadn't forgiven him for accidently letting Tony know they had spent their vacation together.

Feeling awful he decided to go up to Natasha and apologize again. Their friendship was very important to him and he didn't want to ruin it because he was an idiot.

He later found Natasha walking towards him in one of the several halls in the builds. When he went up to Natasha, he could just tell she wanted to run for the hills. "Natasha, we need to talk," he began before she could make up some excuse to get away from him.

"What do you want to talk about Bruce?" she asked. As she said this Bruce saw her make sure that no one was in the hall.

"I've noticed that you've been avoiding me. Have I done something to anger you? Are you mad about the whole Tony thing?" he asked determined to get to the bottom of this.

Natasha's face softened a little, "No, no it's nothing that you've done. I'm not mad or anything."

"Then why have you been avoiding me?" he asked.

"I haven't been avoiding you. It's just that I didn't want Tony to think we were together or anything."

"Oh, I see," he said. So basically she was avoiding him so that Tony wouldn't think they were dating.

"Yeah, that's all. I've also been super busy. I have a mission coming up and everything."

"I don't want to keep you from your work. I'll see you around. "Bruce left the hall and went inside his lab. When he got there he didn't really feel like working. Much to his annoyance Tony was in the lab.

"Hello, friend of mine!" exclaimed Tony. "You ready to start working?"

"What are you so happy about?" snapped Bruce.

"I just saw you and Natasha outside talking. I'm glad that Natasha isn't avoiding you because she's mad."

"WHAT? You were eavesdropping on our conversation?" yelled Bruce enraged. He just couldn't believe Tony.

"You guys are just so fascinating it's like watching a soap opera," he said oblivious to Bruce's rage.

Bruce was starting to heave. It looked like he was expanding. He was beyond angry. Why couldn't Tony just leave them alone?

Finally Tony turned and looked at Bruce. When he did he nearly jumped back. "Oh my god! Bruce clam down!" he yelled in shock.

Bruce's face was turning to a sickly shade of green.

"Bruce calm down! You don't want to destroy this entire building!" Tony was starting to get very concerned and afraid. This was **his** building that he had just rebuilt. The last thing he needed was to spend more money rebuilding it.

It was too late, Bruce was morphing into the hulk and there was nothing Tony could do about it. Not knowing what else to do Tony decided to run for it.

The Hulk roared in rage as he raced after Tony destroying the lab and the walls of the building in the process.

People were running out of the way and trying to find the exit. The building was in chaos as the Hulk ran after Tony showering the people in the building with debris.

Natasha was getting out of one of the offices in the building when she heard that roar. Goosebumps ran down her neck. 'Oh god not again' she thought.

She heard the screams of her co-workers and the sound of the Hulk's roar. All of the sudden she saw Tony running by her with a look of terror.

"I woke up the sleeping giant," he yelled as he disappeared out of sight.

Just then the Hulk appeared running after Tony. He paused momentarily when he saw Natasha. He left her and continued his pursue for Tony.

Half an hour later the Hulk morphed back into Bruce Banner. Just as Tony had predicted the Hulk had nearly destroyed the entire building. Everyone was pissed off at Tony. Tony nearly cried when he saw what had become of his newly renovated Stark Towers.

"What am I going to tell Pepper?" he moaned. "She's coming home in two days."

"It's your own damn fault. You deliberately pissed Bruce off and now you have to pay the price," snapped Natasha.

"What did you say to Bruce that caused him to turn into the Hulk?" asked Steve.

Tony did not answer.

**Please review! Reviews motivate me to update more often and to not abandon the story. Thanks for reading.**


End file.
